About the Author

TOM HOLLAND is the author of numerous history books, including Rubicon, Persian Fire, and The Histories, a new translation of Herodotus. He wrote and presented Islam: The Untold Story, a documentary commissioned for Channel 4 in Britain based on his book In the Shadow of the Sword. He lives in London with his wife and two daughters

Reviews

Praise for Dynasty ..".With his new book, Dynasty, the British historian Tom Holland has crafted a history of early Rome that has all the gripping detail and narrative momentum of a novel. Mr. Holland does not gloss over the holes or uncertainties in his story, but instead uses his knowledge of the period (which starts with the murder of Julius Caesar and concludes with Nero's suicide in A.D. 68) to place early and sometimes disputed accounts in context, and to give the reader a startlingly visceral sense of the violence and brutality and wretched excess of ancient Rome.
--Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times "This is great material, and Holland does it justice with a chiseled prose style and an eye for the luminous detail.... A graduate of both Cambridge and Oxford, Holland is a master of narrative history. On the strength of Dynasty, he deserves a laurel wreath."
--Dennis Drabelle, Washington Post "Holland, a classical scholar turned full-time author, has written highly regarded accounts of Roman, Greek, medieval European and early Islamic history and has also translated...the sweeping narrative of Herodotus out of ancient Greek. The canvas of Dynasty is his broadest yet, both in terms of time (he begins well before the Julio-Claudians, to show how they arose) and territory. He keeps his eyes trained on the men and women of the August Family even while following events as widely dispersed as Britain, Germany and North Africa. His ability to operate at small and large scale simultaneously--both domi and fores, in Rome and abroad, as Tacitus put it--is one of his great talents.... Dynasty surely secures his place among the foremost writers of popular history practicing today."
--James Romm, Wall Street Journal "Holland's novelistic approach enhances a story that he has not invented. This means that his account is gripping and occasionally eloquent, but sometimes the larger historical setting vanishes as he concentrates on vivid personalities at the expense of the vast empire within which all the domestic horrors were taking place."
--G.W. Bowersock, New York Review of Books "As for the book I read before I turn the light out, currently it's Dynasty, by Tom Holland, about the Caesars. It has Holland's usual novelistic ability to bring a narrative alive, together with his extraordinary command of ancient sources. It's the sequel to his outstanding Rubicon. It's fascinating on how, inch by inch, Augustus and his successors surreptitiously turned a republic into an autocracy."
--Matt Ridley, New York Times Book Review, "By the Book" "Among the many virtues of Tom Holland's terrific history is that he does not shrink from seeing the Roman emperors for what they were: 'the west's primal examples of tyranny'. He accepts that tales of their paranoid depravity make historians uneasy.... He knits the history of ancient Rome into his narrative--its founding myths, the fall of the republic, the religious superstitions--with a skill so dextrous you don't notice the stitching. Dynasty is both a formidable effort to compile what we can know about the ancient world and a sensational story."
--Nick Cohen, The Guardian "A vivid account of five Roman emperors, emphasizing their vices and vicious behavior with less attention to the vast empire, which continued to prosper despite them."
--Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Dynasty
..".With his new book, Dynasty, the British historian Tom Holland has crafted a history of early Rome that has all the gripping detail and narrative momentum of a novel. Mr. Holland does not gloss over the holes or uncertainties in his story, but instead uses his knowledge of the period (which starts with the murder of Julius Caesar and concludes with Nero's suicide in A.D. 68) to place early and sometimes disputed accounts in context, and to give the reader a startlingly visceral sense of the violence and brutality and wretched excess of ancient Rome.
--Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
"This is great material, and Holland does it justice with a chiseled prose style and an eye for the luminous detail.... A graduate of both Cambridge and Oxford, Holland is a master of narrative history. On the strength of Dynasty, he deserves a laurel wreath."
--Dennis Drabelle, Washington Post
"Holland, a classical scholar turned full-time author, has written highly regarded accounts of Roman, Greek, medieval European and early Islamic history and has also translated...the sweeping narrative of Herodotus out of ancient Greek. The canvas of Dynasty is his broadest yet, both in terms of time (he begins well before the Julio-Claudians, to show how they arose) and territory. He keeps his eyes trained on the men and women of the August Family even while following events as widely dispersed as Britain, Germany and North Africa. His ability to operate at small and large scale simultaneously--both domi and fores, in Rome and abroad, as Tacitus put it--is one of his great talents.... Dynasty surely secures his place among the foremost writers of popular history practicing today."
--James Romm, Wall Street Journal
"Holland's novelistic approach enhances a story that he has not invented. This means that his account is gripping and occasionally eloquent, but sometimes the larger historical setting vanishes as he concentrates on vivid personalities at the expense of the vast empire within which all the domestic horrors were taking place."
--G.W. Bowersock, New York Review of Books
"As for the book I read before I turn the light out, currently it's Dynasty, by Tom Holland, about the Caesars. It has Holland's usual novelistic ability to bring a narrative alive, together with his extraordinary command of ancient sources. It's the sequel to his outstanding Rubicon. It's fascinating on how, inch by inch, Augustus and his successors surreptitiously turned a republic into an autocracy."
--Matt Ridley, New York Times Book Review, "By the Book"
"Among the many virtues of Tom Holland's terrific history is that he does not shrink from seeing the Roman emperors for what they were: 'the west's primal examples of tyranny'. He accepts that tales of their paranoid depravity make historians uneasy.... He knits the history of ancient Rome into his narrative--its founding myths, the fall of the republic, the religious superstitions--with a skill so dextrous you don't notice the stitching. Dynasty is both a formidable effort to compile what we can know about the ancient world and a sensational story."
--Nick Cohen, The Guardian
"A vivid account of five Roman emperors, emphasizing their vices and vicious behavior with less attention to the vast empire, which continued to prosper despite them."
--Kirkus Reviews

Praise for "Dynasty"
..".With his new book, "Dynasty," the British historian Tom Holland has crafted a history of early Rome that has all the gripping detail and narrative momentum of a novel.Mr. Holland does not gloss over the holes or uncertainties in his story, but instead uses his knowledge of the period (which starts with the murder of Julius Caesar and concludes with Nero s suicide in A.D. 68) to place early and sometimes disputed accounts in context, and to give the reader a startlingly visceral sense of the violence and brutality and wretched excess of ancient Rome.
Michiko Kakutani, "The New York Times"
"This is great material, and Holland does it justice with a chiseled prose style and an eye for the luminous detail....A graduate of both Cambridge and Oxford, Holland is a master of narrative history. On the strength of "Dynasty," he deserves a laurel wreath."
Dennis Drabelle, "Washington Post"
"Holland, a classical scholar turned full-time author, has written highly regarded accounts of Roman, Greek, medieval European and early Islamic history and has also translated...the sweeping narrative ofHerodotusout of ancient Greek. The canvas of "Dynasty" is his broadest yet, both in terms of time (he begins well before the Julio-Claudians, to show how they arose) and territory. He keeps his eyes trained on the men and women of the August Family even while following events as widely dispersed as Britain, Germany and North Africa. His ability to operate at small and large scale simultaneously both"domi"and"fores," in Rome and abroad, as Tacitus put it is one of his great talents...."Dynasty" surely secures his place among the foremost writers of popular history practicing today."
James Romm, "Wall Street Journal"
"Holland s novelistic approach enhances a story that he has not invented. This means that his account is gripping and occasionally eloquent, but sometimes the larger historical setting vanishes as he concentrates on vivid personalities at the expense of the vast empire within which all the domestic horrors were taking place."
G.W. Bowersock, "New York Review of Books"
"As for the book I read before I turn the light out, currently it s "Dynasty," by Tom Holland, about the Caesars. It has Holland s usual novelistic ability to bring a narrative alive, together with his extraordinary command of ancient sources. It s the sequel to his outstanding "Rubicon." It s fascinating on how, inch by inch, Augustus and his successors surreptitiously turned a republic into an autocracy."
Matt Ridley, "New York Times Book Review," "By the Book"
"Among the many virtues of Tom Holland s terrific history is that he does not shrink from seeing the Roman emperors for what they were: 'the west s primal examples of tyranny'. He accepts that tales of their paranoid depravity make historians uneasy....He knits the history of ancient Rome into his narrative its founding myths, the fall of the republic, the religious superstitions with a skill so dextrous you don t notice the stitching."Dynasty"is both a formidable effort to compile what we can know about the ancient world and a sensational story."
Nick Cohen, "The Guardian"
"A vivid account of five Roman emperors, emphasizing their vices and vicious behavior with less attention to the vast empire, which continued to prosper despite them."
"Kirkus Reviews""

Praise for "Dynasty"
"Holland, a classical scholar turned full-time author, has written highly regarded accounts of Roman, Greek, medieval European and early Islamic history and has also translated...the sweeping narrative ofHerodotusout of ancient Greek. The canvas of "Dynasty" is his broadest yet, both in terms of time (he begins well before the Julio-Claudians, to show how they arose) and territory. He keeps his eyes trained on the men and women of the August Family even while following events as widely dispersed as Britain, Germany and North Africa. His ability to operate at small and large scale simultaneously both"domi"and"fores," in Rome and abroad, as Tacitus put it is one of his great talents...."Dynasty" surely secures his place among the foremost writers of popular history practicing today."
James Romm, "Wall Street Journal"
"Among the many virtues of Tom Holland s terrific history is that he does not shrink from seeing the Roman emperors for what they were: 'the west s primal examples of tyranny'. He accepts that tales of their paranoid depravity make historians uneasy....He knits the history of ancient Rome into his narrative its founding myths, the fall of the republic, the religious superstitions with a skill so dextrous you don t notice the stitching."Dynasty"is both a formidable effort to compile what we can know about the ancient world and a sensational story."
Nick Cohen, "The Guardian"
"A vivid account of five Roman emperors, emphasizing their vices and vicious behavior with less attention to the vast empire, which continued to prosper despite them."
"Kirkus Reviews""

Praise for "Dynasty"
"Among the many virtues of Tom Holland s terrific history is that he does not shrink from seeing the Roman emperors for what they were: 'the west s primal examples of tyranny'. He accepts that tales of their paranoid depravity make historians uneasy....He knits the history of ancient Rome into his narrative its founding myths, the fall of the republic, the religious superstitions with a skill so dextrous you don t notice the stitching."Dynasty"is both a formidable effort to compile what we can know about the ancient world and a sensational story."
Nick Cohen, "The Guardian"
"A vivid account of five Roman emperors, emphasizing their vices and vicious behavior with less attention to the vast empire, which continued to prosper despite them."
"Kirkus Reviews""

Praise for "Dynasty"
"A vivid account of five Roman emperors, emphasizing their vices and vicious behavior with less attention to the vast empire, which continued to prosper despite them."
"Kirkus Reviews""